Ex Celtic youth coach Jim McCafferty, 72, jailed for three years and nine months after pleading guilty to eight counts of sexual assault

McCafferty, formerly of Raby Street in Belfast, will serve half the sentence in custody and the remaining half on licence

Rebecca Black

Harry Manning

13 Aug 2018, 12:24

Updated: 13 Aug 2018, 20:26

A FORMER Celtic Football Club youth coach has been jailed for three years and nine months after admitting eight counts of sexual assault.

Jim McCafferty, 72, initially pleaded not guilty to a series of sexual offences against the same teenage boy over a three-year period before December 2015, but changed his plea to guilty on the morning his trial began at Belfast Crown Court in May 2018.

During sentencing, Judge Patricia Smyth told McCafferty that what he had considered "a bit of fun" had had a significant impact on his victim.

McCafferty, formerly of Raby Street in Belfast, will serve half of the sentence in custody and the remaining half on licence.

The offences took place over a three-year period from December 2012 to December 2015 when McCafferty was aged from 66 to 68 and his victim was aged between 14 and 16.

Judge Smyth said: "You abused trust placed in you by his family... assaulting him in your home and his home. The impact on your victim and his family has been significant.

"There are other factors in the victim's life that had rendered him vulnerable."

Judge Smyth also told the court that McCafferty had only apologised to his victim because he had been advised to and said he continued to regard his behaviour as having been "a bit of fun for the victim".

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Belfast Crown Court

McCafferty, who lived in Glasgow before moving to Northern Ireland in recent years, will remain on the sexual offenders register for an "indefinite period" and has been banned from working with children in any capacity.

McCafferty was involved in Celtic for more than 20 years and also worked at Hibernian FC.